Columns and Fields are the same?

[WebNewbie]

Hi, please clear up something thats been confusing me regarding a database. Are database columns the same as database fields, if so why are there two ways to drop them? For example to delete a field the syntax is DELETE from [table name] where [field name] = 'whatever';, and to delete a column the syntax is alter table [table name] drop column [column name]; If they are same why are there two ways to do the same thing? Thanks for your help.

[ilearneditonline]

Hi, please clear up something thats been confusing me regarding a database. Are database columns the same as database fields, if so why are there two ways to drop them? For example to delete a field the syntax is DELETE from [table name] where [field name] = 'whatever';, and to drop a column the syntax is alter table [table name] drop column [column name]; I If they are same why are there two ways to do the same thing? Thanks for your help.

They are not the same thing. When you DROP a column, you are not deleting the data only, but removing the column from the table. When you DELETE, you are deleting records from the table. The table Schema remains intact.

If you are familar with Excel, then this is how you can think of it.

A is a column, you can highlight the entire column, you can hide it, etc.
A1 is a cell or in the case of a db, a field. When you delete that one cell, it doesn't affect the cells below it.


Hope that helps.